Portal (partially lost television series; 2002-2004)

Portal is a television series that aired from May 2002 to February 2004 on the video game-oriented channel G4. It is notable for being one of the launch programs for G4 when the channel first launched, as well as being the channel's only scripted series at launch. It is unrelated to the video game series Portal produced by Valve Corporation.

Portal is a machinima series focused on Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs).[1] The show is a mix of numerous genres, including sketch comedy, satire, serialized drama, and nonfiction news, and informational segments on new MMORPG features.

Portal follows a Cybernaut named Dave (played by show creator and writer Dave Meinstein[2]), who is tasked with monitoring the transmissions from various online games from a place called The Hub. He is assisted by an artificial intelligence named VAL. He eventually finds allies such as The Drifter, Sonny Dove, and Grooter, as well as enemies such as The Ultimate, Apex, and Bob Claws. [3]

60 episodes of Portal were produced from May 2002 to February 2004. Of those 60, 35 have been found online in their entirety. Additionally, 2 episodes are partially complete. These episodes have lasted thanks to fans preserving them on video websites such as DailyMotion and YouTube. Information on missing episodes can be found on Wayback Machine's archive of the old G4TV.com website.[4]

Portal was suddenly cancelled in early 2004 when G4 decided to change their programming strategy in response to lower-than-anticipated rating growth. For a brief time afterward, Portal aired in occasional reruns. On June 22, 2006, Dave Meinstein, star, and writer of the show, also indicated on the G4TV.com forums that there would be a web-based continuation of the series, although these plans never materialized.[5]

Meinstein eventually left G4 and withdrew from having an internet presence entirely. Portal last aired in reruns in the Summer of 2008. [6] G4 went off the air on December 31, 2014.[7]